Daily Current Affairs for Competitive Exams – 24 March 2018

1. Shri Hansraj Gangaram Ahir inaugurates first National Conference on Drug Law Enforcement.

The Minister of State for Home Affairs, Shri Hansraj Gangaram Ahir today said that Narco-terrorism and its funding is a serious problem for the world, especially for India. Inaugurating the two-day first National Conference on Drug Law Enforcement here, he said the challenge for law enforcement agencies and the society is to prevent drug abuse among youth.

The minister said, the problem of drug trafficking assumes importance for India as it lies in the “Golden Crescent” and “Golden Triangle” as a transit route for drug mafia. He said that India’s nodal drug law enforcement agency, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has been sharing intelligence information with other agencies of the world in tackling drug trafficking.

2. International TB Day: 24 March.

World Tuberculosis Day, observed on 24 March each year, is designed to build public awareness about the global epidemic of tuberculosis (TB) and efforts to eliminate the disease.

In 2012, 8.6 million people fell ill with TB, and 1.3 million died from the disease, mostly in the Third World.

World TB Day is one of eight official global public health campaigns marked by the World Health Organization (WHO).

The theme for the year `2018 is ‘Wanted: Leaders for a TB-free world’.

3. ‘First Indian Sign Language Dictionary of 3000 Words’ Launched.

Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Thaawarchand Gehlot has launched the first Indian Sign Language (ISL) Dictionary of three thousand words in New Delhi.

The dictionary has been developed by Indian Sign Language Research & Training Centre (ISLR&TC) under Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPwD), M/o Social Justice & Empowerment. Ministers of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Shri Krishan Pal Gujar and Shri Ramdas Athwale and Shri Krishan Pal Gurjar were also present on the occasion.

4. Punjab observes martyrdom day as Youth Empowerment Day

The Punjab government has observed March 23, the death anniversary of freedom fighters Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru, as Youth Empowerment Day.

State Cultural Affairs, Tourism and Local Bodies Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu said he would write to Prime Minister Narendra Modi requesting him to commemorate the date as ‘Youth Empowerment Day’ at the national level also.

The 16-year-old shot his first Junior World Cup medal with 30 birds in the six-man final to come away with a podium finish after 40 shots of the 45-shot final. As day three of the tournament progressed, Vivaan was part of the Indian trio that won a team bronze, alongside Lakshay Sheoran and Ali Aman Elahi

6. 5th India Maize Summit 2018

Maize production in India has seen a boom in recent years which has been possible due to increase in area as well as productivity.

This was stated by the Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Shri Radha Mohan Singh at the inaugural event of the 5th India Maize Summit 2018 at FICCI, New Delhi.

Delivering the inaugural address, Shri Singh said that during 1950-51, India produced only 1.73 MT, which has reached 25.89 MT in 2016-17 and is expected to cross 27 MT in 2017-18.

7. Tata Power appoints Praveer Sinha as new CEO & MD.

Tata Power has appointed Mr. Praveer Sinha as the firm’s new chief executive officer (CEO) and managing director with effect from May1, 2018 to oversee the next phase of expansion.

Mr. Sinha is currently the CEO & managing director of Tata Power Delhi Distribution Limited (Tata Power-DDL), a public private partnership between Tata Power and Delhi government, supplying power to over seven million people in North and North-West Delhi.

8. Roundtable of Invest India Held on 23rd March.

Minister of Commerce & Industry and Civil Aviation, Suresh Prabhu chaired a roundtable of Invest India in New Delhi.

Various regulatory issues faced by Startups in the sectors of e-pharmacy, NBFCs, unmanned aerial vehicle and retail delivery of petroleum from door to door were discussed with the concerned Ministries and departments of the Government of India in the presence of the Minister.

Following issues like presence of pharmacist at e-pharmacy platforms, stream lining of the application process for NBFCs by RBI, reforms in current guidelines for UAV sector, which doesn’t allow for manufacturing of drones, and vehicle specifications for door to door retail delivery of petroleum, were discussed at length.

9. ISRO–BHEL Tie up for the Production of Space Grade Lithium-Ion Cells

ISRO has entered into a Technology Transfer Agreement (TTA) with Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), which is one of the country’s leading PSUs, to transfer the technology for the manufacture of space grade Li-Ion cells.

The TTA was signed at ISRO Headquarters, Bengaluru in the presence of Dr. K. Sivan, Chairman, ISRO and Mr. Atul Sobti, Chairman & Managing Director, BHEL.

Equitas Small Finance Bank has launched a new ‘Yellow Army Savings Account’ to increase its customer base through its association with the Chennai Super Kings (CSK), a franchise of the Indian Premium League (IPL).

The Chennai-based new entrant into the banking sector has joined the list of the companies that use IPL boom and their association with franchises to promote products.

The yellow army savings account will offer an interest rate of six per cent per annum for balance below ₹10 lakh and 6.5 per cent per annum for balance above ₹10 lakh. The average quarterly balance requirement will be ₹10,000 per account.